Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Emerging Challenges and ensuring Child Rights
Emerging Challenges and ensuring Child Rights
By-Sanjeev Rai
Children in the country are facing threats for their survival and well-being and some of the recent incidents have sent alarming signals on the safety of the children. At NOIDA a mother killed her infant baby girl after 24 hours of delivery. In jaunpur of U.P. a little girl was throne out in to the river by his father who could not bear the cost of his treatment and a HIV positive infant girl found abandoned in the outer Delhi. Several new challenges have been emerging before children especially girls’.
These are the some recent cases showing inhuman mindsets and act of the people. There are countless hurdles for girls starting from the womb to tomb. The deteriorating sex ratio in several states has been resulting in to polygamy and human trafficking.
Child Rights has not become a reality for majority of the children and still a sizeable number of children reside at railway platforms in pathetic circumstances.
Violence, poverty, death of parents etc. are the some reasons leading youngsters to leave their home and take shelter at platforms to earn their bread and butter. After few days spending at platform children get in to the circle of drug addicts and thieves and often department get booked by the local police in false cases.
Along with the traditional challenges some new emerging factors are making life difficult. Children of the parents affected with HIV/AIDS are facing discriminations in the society and in the school. On one hand economic necessity puts pressure on the children to stop attending school to earn for the family and simultaneously they have been classified as a member of AIDS affected family.
The violence against children is also on the rise and The survey conducted by department of WCD reveals that 53% children of the country have been victims of sexual abuse and most of the incidents took place during the family functions or in the house itself. In the age group of 13 to 16 years 77.5% children of Assam, 69% of Delhi and 23% of Goa have reported incidents of sexual abuse.
Children working in hazardous industries have not been stopped completely and new unorganized sectors have come up in the cities to engage children in this new ‘profession’. The film Red Signal successfully highlights the beggars /sellers caucus and pathetic condition of the slum children in Mumbai. Several thousand children of school going age from Bihar and UP work in embroidery, rag picking, leather sector in the suburb like Dharavi and Malad of Mumbai.With all the efforts made by Sarva Siksha Abhiyan Almost 15% school going age children are still out of school in the country and it is expected that by the end of this century India would be having 1/4th of population illiterate.
The special focus on children’s issues is a requisite act now because children can’t raise their voice strongly against exploitation/discrimination of any nature by themselves in a society like us.So parents also need to be sensitive on these issues.
Laws have been made to stop engaging child labourers but execution of laws and their relationship with available options of education and livelihood needs to be reviewed critically corrections are required in the existing programs of the concerned departments. In East Delhi, any one could notice children assembled around wine shops offering ‘water’ and ‘Glass’ to the liquor consumers. They get one rupee and the blank bottle as reward from their customers.
Delhi’s Subash Nagar, Shadahara, Nagloi, Paharganj, Chandni Chowk, Cannaught Place are the some areas where children have been engaged in economic activities and living in a meagre state. Small contractors of backward regions are doing the supply of child labourers to the cities. Whenever the small contractors visit their town/village they allure young boys and girls to the glitter of big cities and after reaching in their dream cities they shop and borrow money from contractor. Young boys/girls get obliged with the ‘hospitality’ offered by the contractor and even on his ‘request’ factory/shop owner agrees to absorb them as labourer. Contractor gets his commission from factory owner and house rent from the guests. Sexual exploitation starts little later.
Agara, Aligarh, Indore, Shivkasi are not only name of the cities but also potential places of making children deprived with their rights and well being and putting them on risk. Here is a case of a child labour to understand the modus operandi of supply and pushing them in to the hazardous work. Raju, a thirteen year old child labour from Darbhanga, Bihar lost his right palm while working in a factory at Delhi’s Subash Nagar. The owner called the contractor and gave him some rupees to send Raju back to Bihar. Raju met with a student of his own town and shared the story. When the student tried to convince the factory owner, he was beaten up by local dadas. With the help of some lawyer friends and continued negotiations for fifteen day’s, factory owner paid Rs. 25,000 to Raju.
In 2001, after earthquake in Gujarat Ismaile and Rafeeq were two boys among the several other orphans of Kutch. Ismaile, who lost his parents during the earthquake, was asked by his uncle to look after the goats and Rafeeq was forced to work at a tea stall. Volunteers of Gantar, an NGO did the job of rescuing these children and putting them in a motivational camp followed by enrolment in a residential school but there are several children across the country who also need systematic and natural assistance to prevent ‘disaster’ not only after the disasters. A recent study by NIUPA reveals that 23000 schools of the country still run without a single teacher and state like MP has 38.74% schools without building. What is the way out for the children of these areas?
In a country like India we do have taxes on cycles and toys but subsidy on cooking gas is a political compulsion here. After 60 years of independence children are asking their stake in public life. Execution of their rights to survive, grow and get education with better health is still look like a dream rather than becoming a reality.
Society and Schools have to play a critical role in making a safe environment and ensuring child rights by involving them in the policy formation and in implement processes. Education would have to play a major role to counter violence and forced identity by making people aware on sensitive issues and ensuring quality learning in the schools.
The expected boom in the economy could not be achieved and sustained without investing for children. After ensuring elementary education for excluded groups vocational training programs should be made available not only to train workforce but it would be a motivating factor for learner’s parents also who came forward to ‘invest’ eight years in education. Every out of school child stands on the edges of being a child labour so pull them up before they fell down and can enjoy their rights as agreed on Child Rights Convention and Millennium Development Goals.
By-Sanjeev Rai
Children in the country are facing threats for their survival and well-being and some of the recent incidents have sent alarming signals on the safety of the children. At NOIDA a mother killed her infant baby girl after 24 hours of delivery. In jaunpur of U.P. a little girl was throne out in to the river by his father who could not bear the cost of his treatment and a HIV positive infant girl found abandoned in the outer Delhi. Several new challenges have been emerging before children especially girls’.
These are the some recent cases showing inhuman mindsets and act of the people. There are countless hurdles for girls starting from the womb to tomb. The deteriorating sex ratio in several states has been resulting in to polygamy and human trafficking.
Child Rights has not become a reality for majority of the children and still a sizeable number of children reside at railway platforms in pathetic circumstances.
Violence, poverty, death of parents etc. are the some reasons leading youngsters to leave their home and take shelter at platforms to earn their bread and butter. After few days spending at platform children get in to the circle of drug addicts and thieves and often department get booked by the local police in false cases.
Along with the traditional challenges some new emerging factors are making life difficult. Children of the parents affected with HIV/AIDS are facing discriminations in the society and in the school. On one hand economic necessity puts pressure on the children to stop attending school to earn for the family and simultaneously they have been classified as a member of AIDS affected family.
The violence against children is also on the rise and The survey conducted by department of WCD reveals that 53% children of the country have been victims of sexual abuse and most of the incidents took place during the family functions or in the house itself. In the age group of 13 to 16 years 77.5% children of Assam, 69% of Delhi and 23% of Goa have reported incidents of sexual abuse.
Children working in hazardous industries have not been stopped completely and new unorganized sectors have come up in the cities to engage children in this new ‘profession’. The film Red Signal successfully highlights the beggars /sellers caucus and pathetic condition of the slum children in Mumbai. Several thousand children of school going age from Bihar and UP work in embroidery, rag picking, leather sector in the suburb like Dharavi and Malad of Mumbai.With all the efforts made by Sarva Siksha Abhiyan Almost 15% school going age children are still out of school in the country and it is expected that by the end of this century India would be having 1/4th of population illiterate.
The special focus on children’s issues is a requisite act now because children can’t raise their voice strongly against exploitation/discrimination of any nature by themselves in a society like us.So parents also need to be sensitive on these issues.
Laws have been made to stop engaging child labourers but execution of laws and their relationship with available options of education and livelihood needs to be reviewed critically corrections are required in the existing programs of the concerned departments. In East Delhi, any one could notice children assembled around wine shops offering ‘water’ and ‘Glass’ to the liquor consumers. They get one rupee and the blank bottle as reward from their customers.
Delhi’s Subash Nagar, Shadahara, Nagloi, Paharganj, Chandni Chowk, Cannaught Place are the some areas where children have been engaged in economic activities and living in a meagre state. Small contractors of backward regions are doing the supply of child labourers to the cities. Whenever the small contractors visit their town/village they allure young boys and girls to the glitter of big cities and after reaching in their dream cities they shop and borrow money from contractor. Young boys/girls get obliged with the ‘hospitality’ offered by the contractor and even on his ‘request’ factory/shop owner agrees to absorb them as labourer. Contractor gets his commission from factory owner and house rent from the guests. Sexual exploitation starts little later.
Agara, Aligarh, Indore, Shivkasi are not only name of the cities but also potential places of making children deprived with their rights and well being and putting them on risk. Here is a case of a child labour to understand the modus operandi of supply and pushing them in to the hazardous work. Raju, a thirteen year old child labour from Darbhanga, Bihar lost his right palm while working in a factory at Delhi’s Subash Nagar. The owner called the contractor and gave him some rupees to send Raju back to Bihar. Raju met with a student of his own town and shared the story. When the student tried to convince the factory owner, he was beaten up by local dadas. With the help of some lawyer friends and continued negotiations for fifteen day’s, factory owner paid Rs. 25,000 to Raju.
In 2001, after earthquake in Gujarat Ismaile and Rafeeq were two boys among the several other orphans of Kutch. Ismaile, who lost his parents during the earthquake, was asked by his uncle to look after the goats and Rafeeq was forced to work at a tea stall. Volunteers of Gantar, an NGO did the job of rescuing these children and putting them in a motivational camp followed by enrolment in a residential school but there are several children across the country who also need systematic and natural assistance to prevent ‘disaster’ not only after the disasters. A recent study by NIUPA reveals that 23000 schools of the country still run without a single teacher and state like MP has 38.74% schools without building. What is the way out for the children of these areas?
In a country like India we do have taxes on cycles and toys but subsidy on cooking gas is a political compulsion here. After 60 years of independence children are asking their stake in public life. Execution of their rights to survive, grow and get education with better health is still look like a dream rather than becoming a reality.
Society and Schools have to play a critical role in making a safe environment and ensuring child rights by involving them in the policy formation and in implement processes. Education would have to play a major role to counter violence and forced identity by making people aware on sensitive issues and ensuring quality learning in the schools.
The expected boom in the economy could not be achieved and sustained without investing for children. After ensuring elementary education for excluded groups vocational training programs should be made available not only to train workforce but it would be a motivating factor for learner’s parents also who came forward to ‘invest’ eight years in education. Every out of school child stands on the edges of being a child labour so pull them up before they fell down and can enjoy their rights as agreed on Child Rights Convention and Millennium Development Goals.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
A Nice Story,from a friend.
A group of people highly established in their careers,got together to visit their old school teacher. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stressin work and life. Offering her guests coffee, theschool teacher went to the kitchen and returned with alarge pot of coffee and an assortment of cups,porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain, someexpensive, some exquisite, telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When everyone had a cup ofcoffee in hand, the school teacher said: "If younoticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups weretaken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best foryourselves, that is the source of your problems andstress. Be assured that the cup itself adds noquality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just moreexpensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup,but you consciously went for the best cups and thenyou began eyeing each other's cups. Now considerthis: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money andposition in society are the cups. They are just toolsto hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we havedoes not define nor change the quality of Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup,we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us." Godbrews the coffee, not the cups. Enjoy your coffee! (Then the part I like best)... The happiest people don't HAVE the best of everything. They justMAKE the best of everything they have. Live simply, love generously, care deeply and have awonderful time
Monday, April 7, 2008
Article on Conflict and Education,Courtesy-INEE
REPORT: Where Peace Begins - Education's Role in Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding
(Save the Children)
Most people recognise instinctively the role of education in preventing conflict and in building peace. Most people also understand the dangers inherent in the abuse of education systems. To explore these issues more deeply and to spark increased interest and discussion, Save the Children has released a report entitled Where Peace Begins: Education's Role in Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding as part of its Rewrite the Future campaign. Part of the purpose of this report is to set out - on the basis of Save the Children's experience - what they believe to be the impact of conflict on children and on their education. The report also sets out Save the Children's understanding of how education can make conflicts worse and how education - the right sort of education - can support peace. However, describing how the right sort of quality education can lead to peace and how the wrong sort can make conflict worse will only get us so far. The report also reflects on finding ways of making quality education a reality in conflict-affected fragile states around the world. According to the report, this is a challenge to us all, to ensure good education before, during and after conflicts, and when peace settlements are negotiated: "Peace begins in the minds of children. But how do we make sure children receive the quality education that will help them build peace?"To access the full report, please click here
To learn more about the peace education component of the Rewrite the Future campaign, please click here
ARTICLE: Empower or Control? Education in Emergencies and Global Governance
(Dana Burde, CICE Journal)
Current Issues in Comparative Education (CICE) is an international online, open access journal inviting diverse opinions of academics, practitioners and students, based at Teachers College, Columbia University. Last year's issue, "Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises, and Early Reconstruction: Issues and Debates on Quality, Impact, and Accountability" (Vol. 9, No. 2) was shared with INEE members over the listserv. We would now like to draw your attention to Dana Burde's response to that issue, entitled "Empower or control? Education in emergencies and global governance." In this paper, Burde engages with the four articles in the issue, reflecting on whether programmes that provide education in emergencies empower those whom they are intended to assist, or if they coerce and control. She also explores how INEE is portrayed within the lively discussion that has been sparked about education in emergencies and the role INEE can play in empowering and/or controlling local communities from crisis-affected areas. Burde is a visiting assistant professor at New York University, and her research and teaching focus on education in emergencies, NGOs, social movements, and on education as a tool for social reconstruction in post-conflict regions.To access Dana Burde's paper, please click here. To access the CICE journal, please click here.
(Save the Children)
Most people recognise instinctively the role of education in preventing conflict and in building peace. Most people also understand the dangers inherent in the abuse of education systems. To explore these issues more deeply and to spark increased interest and discussion, Save the Children has released a report entitled Where Peace Begins: Education's Role in Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding as part of its Rewrite the Future campaign. Part of the purpose of this report is to set out - on the basis of Save the Children's experience - what they believe to be the impact of conflict on children and on their education. The report also sets out Save the Children's understanding of how education can make conflicts worse and how education - the right sort of education - can support peace. However, describing how the right sort of quality education can lead to peace and how the wrong sort can make conflict worse will only get us so far. The report also reflects on finding ways of making quality education a reality in conflict-affected fragile states around the world. According to the report, this is a challenge to us all, to ensure good education before, during and after conflicts, and when peace settlements are negotiated: "Peace begins in the minds of children. But how do we make sure children receive the quality education that will help them build peace?"To access the full report, please click here
To learn more about the peace education component of the Rewrite the Future campaign, please click here
ARTICLE: Empower or Control? Education in Emergencies and Global Governance
(Dana Burde, CICE Journal)
Current Issues in Comparative Education (CICE) is an international online, open access journal inviting diverse opinions of academics, practitioners and students, based at Teachers College, Columbia University. Last year's issue, "Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises, and Early Reconstruction: Issues and Debates on Quality, Impact, and Accountability" (Vol. 9, No. 2) was shared with INEE members over the listserv. We would now like to draw your attention to Dana Burde's response to that issue, entitled "Empower or control? Education in emergencies and global governance." In this paper, Burde engages with the four articles in the issue, reflecting on whether programmes that provide education in emergencies empower those whom they are intended to assist, or if they coerce and control. She also explores how INEE is portrayed within the lively discussion that has been sparked about education in emergencies and the role INEE can play in empowering and/or controlling local communities from crisis-affected areas. Burde is a visiting assistant professor at New York University, and her research and teaching focus on education in emergencies, NGOs, social movements, and on education as a tool for social reconstruction in post-conflict regions.To access Dana Burde's paper, please click here. To access the CICE journal, please click here.
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